Carpenters Union Protests Wage Theft as Freshmen Register

On August 23 and 28, workers protesting wage theft demonstrated outside the Joyce Cummings Center as new freshmen arrived on campus. Throughout the protests, organized by the North Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters, protesters handed out leaflets accusing Tufts of hiring contractors who exploit construction workers in Eaton Hall, Blakely Hall, and Halligan Hall.

At the protests, workers held signs that read “Stop Wage Theft” while others drove trucks carrying the signs around the Cummings Center. One truck carried a large inflatable rat as a protest against unfair practices by employers, particularly those who employ nonunion labor..

According to Raheem Shepard, president of NASRCC and a carpenter by trade, contractors hired by Tufts have used subcontractors who pay their construction workers substandard wages and benefits.

Shepard said contractors routinely violate wage and tax laws by misclassifying their workers as independent contractors — a practice employers sometimes use to avoid paying benefits and minimum wage to employees.

“General contractors on these projects have used subcontractors who do not pay their workers local wages and benefits, which violates community standards,” Shepard wrote in a statement to the Daily. “There is a deeper problem, and that is that many of the subcontractors who appear on these sites have a history of violating labor and tax laws by misclassifying their workers, as evidenced by their own workers’ filings.”

In a statement to The Daily, Tufts Executive Director of Media Relations Patrick Collins defended the university’s hiring practices.

“Tufts works with numerous vendors and contractors, using best practices to vet, hire and collaborate with these third-party companies,” Collins wrote. “In all of our relationships, our goal is to support Our mission and to follow a set of principles, including providing quality learning and research opportunities, ensuring a safe and respectful working environment, individual and institutional accountability, efficiency and flexibility.

According to Shepard, one of NASRCC’s demands is that Tufts ensure that subcontractors with a history of misclassifying their workers as independent contractors are not used on campus construction projects.

“We would like a commitment that for these renovations, Tufts will not use subcontractors who have a history of avoiding various wage and tax obligations by misclassifying their workers, as it is particularly subcontractors who have been accused of these violations by their own workers,” Shepard wrote.

In his statement, Collins also wrote that “questions regarding compensation or subcontractors on construction projects should be directed to the appropriate general contractor.”

Although the NASRCC does not represent any university employees and Tufts is not a party to any collective bargaining agreement with the union, The council seeks to raise awareness of unfair labor practices.

“One of the roles the union plays in the industry that a lot of people don’t recognize is that we also represent non-union workers,” said Bert Durand, NASRCC communications director. “We talk to them about the wages they get, the treatment they get on the job site, how contractors treat them differently. We do it because we believe all carpenters deserve the standard that the union has set in the industry.”

Durand explained that they support workers who have been defrauded by connecting them with law enforcement mechanisms and putting public pressure on institutions and entrepreneurs.

Catherine Pena, a representative of the Carpenters Union, Local 330, who was present at the August 23 demonstration, stressed that one of the goals of the demonstration was to make every worker aware that they are victims of alleged wage theft.

“The workers we talk to on these jobsites don’t even know their wages are being stolen,” Pena said. “Especially for minimum wage jobs, they’re supposed to be getting fixed wages, but some of these workers aren’t getting them and don’t even know it.”

Since construction projects are typically short-term, Durand explained that it can be difficult to hold contractors accountable for wage theft or other improper practices.

“If the attorney general’s office and the Department of Labor decide to investigate, the workers could be gone before they’re done investigating,” Durand said. “We’re trying to talk to end users, developers, institutions, general contractors and say, ‘This is what’s happening in the industry. We’re monitoring it and we don’t want this happening on your job site. So please don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist.’”

Shepard also called on Tufts to recruit contractors who participate in registered apprenticeship programs, which help women and minorities — who are traditionally underrepresented in the construction workforce — get jobs in the industry.

Liz Skidmore, a member of NASRCC and Local 327 who was at the Aug. 23 protest, said she started working as a construction worker through an apprenticeship program..

“(Apprenticeship) is paid training,” she said. “The union spends about $50,000 to train you to be a carpenter.”“

“From an economic perspective, if you want to attract people to a traditionally male occupation, the only way to do it is to make an effort,” Shepard writes. “So we’re looking for two things: first, weed out the unsavory contractors whose business models rely on misclassifying and underpaying workers, and second, positively, we need contractors to participate in legitimate apprenticeship programs.”

Gus Gladstein contributed to this article.